The latest edition of the Fodor’s Essential Japan travel guidebook is now on sale. Yuki and I updated the Hokkaido, Western Honshu, Kyushu, and Okinawa chapters. This will be my 7th update for Fodor’s Japan. I got my start writing the update for the Okinawa chapter in the 2012 edition. Japan is a fantastic place to visit, and I love being able to share some of my favorite places with the world.
Portraits of Tuari, a master of Māori martial arts. He is holding a patu, which was made by his father-in-law.It was a real honour and a delight to photograph Tuari, and I am so pleased he could make his way up to my studio in Motobu. My goal is to visit him in New Zealand, as Tuari has offered me the opportunity to document Māori martial arts on location in beautiful Aotearoa. For those interested in the technical specs…. I photographed Tuari in my studio with the Sony A7RIV and the 70-200 GM2. The keylight was a Profoto D2 strobe with a gridded soft white beauty dish. The rim lights were two 1×4′ gridded softboxes with Proheads powered by a pro-7A 1200W generator. The background is a black felt on a Manfrotto / Lastolite EzyFrame. On his previous visit to Okinawa, I did a quick interview with Tuari and took some pics of him on the local beach here in Motobu. It is always a pleasure to hang out with Tuari, often swapping anecdotes of …
In October, I had the pleasure of photographing the beautiful wedding of Manon & Jeff. It was a delightful open-air ceremony at Sara-no-ue-no-shizen & il Gastro Sara (皿の上の自然& il Gastro Sara), location photography among the orchids at Bios botanical gardens, then the reception back at il Gastro Sara. The reception was fantastic with an amazing array of fine food created by the chefs at il Gastro Sara. Thank you so much for having me as your photographer on your special day.
Dan Antonsen has studied Goju-ryu karate in the Meibukan Dojo under Meitoku Yagi and Meitatsu Yagi. He also studies Ryukyu Kobudo under Hidemi Tamayose. He was recently awarded the rank of 8th-dan. James Pankiewicz and I interviewed Dan for Series 3 of the Sensei: Masters of Okinawan Karate documentary series. The preview for the episode is now on YouTube.
A little girl, with little curls, came to see the hills. She read about a naughty rabbit, and went in search of thrills. She walked up Orrest Head, and looked down at the lake. But now that she was seven, it was just a piece of cake. She hiked up Wandsfell Pike, and the view was just the best. Mum took another photo, while Dad had a little rest. The Red Arrows roared above, a mountain victory! Then holding hands, they wandered home, for buttered scones and tea.
The karate interview series is back! Watch a 6 minute preview of Episode 1, then I give some updates on Series 3. Huge thank you to those who’ve already made donations as sponsors or supporters for Series 3. SERIES THREE SPONSORS Martin Pinto – Essex Goju Ryu Karate Series Three – Supporters Artur Carballo Justin Sheehy Olaf Steinbrecher Masaru Hoshi K.R. Ruiz Click here to learn more about the documentary series, and how you can help!
Back in 2017, Zachary bought his wife Kelley a location / studio portrait session for Christmas. Kelley had amazing ideas inspired by classic Disney movies, so we went with a demure princess look amongst Okinawa’s cosmos flowers, then transformed her into an all-powerful queen. With Kelley looking magnificent (or possibly Maleficent), we shot in the studio, then headed over to Bise Village to get images at the beach and amongst the fukugi trees. Zachary was even willing to step in front of the camera so that Queen Kelley could demonstrate the true power of the crown. Over the past 8 years, Zachary has himself transformed into a legendary Thunderbird. It was fantastic to see both Zachary and Kelley in the new Netflix documentary (That’s Zachary (Zeke) in the Official Trailer thumbnail!). So happy to see them following their dreams, and their lovely young family. Hopefully we’ll meet again if they are ever back in Okinawa, but until then safe flights as you serve your Queen and country. Thank you to Audra Pesicka for her great …
R.I.P. Jyosei Yogi, Kounan-ryu Karate & Okinawa Kobudo Renseikai, passed away at 91 years old. Fond memories of our shoot in June 2012.
Grey-faced buzzard (Butastur indicus) a common winter visitor in Okinawa happily perched on the corner of my studio.
We are embarking on creating Series 3 of Sensei: Masters of Okinawan Karate. We have filmed a fascinating interview with Tatsunori Matsuda of Okinawa Kenpo, and recorded the first pieces of B-roll. We’ve also got the go ahead to film interviews with Seisuke Adaniya (Matayoshi Kobudo / Shorin-ryu), Yoshio Kuba (Goju-ryu) and Kiyohide Shinjo (Uechi-ryu). The plan is to film at least 6 interviews with Okinawan masters in Series 3 so there are several other sensei that we will be reaching out to. We will also conduct several interviews with international karateka. I hope to start releasing the interviews in October 2025 around Karate Day and the Martial Arts Film Festival. If you’d like to watch previous interviews, learn more about the series, or support the project then please click the link below https://travel67.com/the-karate…/sensei-documentary/ Any questions just ask! A huge thank you to the organizations, dojos, and individuals who helped sponsor and support the first two series. SERIES TWO SPONSORS Martin Pinto – Essex Goju Ryu Karate Doug Perry – Okinawa Shorinryu Karate Cezar Borkowski …
TRAVEL 67 : Chris Willson Photography 